AN I am so sorry for not updating for like three weeks or so. I was stuck halfway this chapter and I had no idea how to cintimue. It turned out alright int he end though, I think. I hope I can get the next chapter out in less time. Again I'm really sorry it took this long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Under Pressure
Chapter 18
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This isn't getting us anywhere," she murmured.
Heero frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You still blame yourself for what happened. That's foolish. None of us were capable of
knowing their wanting to attack me the moment you happened to be gone. No-one knew you were in
the palace, so we know they didn't wait for you to leave. It was just a coincidence. There was
nothing you could do."
"But I should have," he answered more heatedly than expected..
"You can't do everything, Heero."
"But I promised to protect you!"
"Why?"
He looked up in surprise. "Isn't it obvious? You are the leader of the Earth and the
Colonies. If you die, peace will fail."
Relena frowned. "It's not just that. You always protected me. Even when I was still an
insignificant schoolgirl. You blocked the shot the Aries took at me, and you stopped the building
from collapsing on top of me. You began protecting me long before I became anyone of importance.
Why?"
To her surprise he leaned forward and rested his face in his hands. "I don't know," he
answered muffled. Relena remained silent, trying to draw out more from the stoic pilot. "I know
I want to protect you, but I'm not sure why, aside from the obvious. Maybe it's because I still
think world peace is far from accomplished and that means I have to keep you safe."
"But you don't have to take sole responsibility for my safety. There are others beside
you working on that. Including myself. So would you please be normal? As normal as you can be,
of course."
He opened his mouth to retort, but froze, frowning. "What's that supposed to mean? As
normal as I can be?"
Relena felt like grinning. Now, there was a lucky break. It seemed like the opportunity
to make fun of Heero, something she had never done before, but had often seen Duo do, had
presented itself at the most convenient time. "Oh, you know," she said vaguely. "I shouldn't
elaborate on that. I'm sure it's a touchy subject to you," she added in a slightly hushed voice,
as if trusting him with a delicate secret.
A brown eyebrow rose over a Prussian blue eye. "You're acting really weird." Everything
about him told her he was very nervous and confused. The fact that she could see it, was already
a sure sign.
"I've been hit in the head, a short while back. So have you, I heard. Don't you know
walls are painfully hard?"
She could see his thoughts tumbling through his head, until they came at a sudden
standstill. She knew what he was thinking. Duo. He was the only one who had seen Heero banging
his head against the wall. And so he most have also told Relena about the fact that Heero
blamed himself for the injuries she sustained. It was about time he realized that, Relena thought.
The perfect soldier was surprisingly slow today.
"I do now," he dead panned.
She smirked, playing along. "But don't you think you were a little drastic in your
means to find out?"
"I wanted to know what was harder, the wall or my head."
An enormous smile broke out on Relena's face. My, he had changed. And for the good too.
He was not as uptight as he had been during the war. Even in the times he was allowed a little
respite, he had always been on guard, never showing his emotions. Now, despite the threat of
another war looming over them, he found time to relax, to show that he was indeed human, and
not the machine other people took him for.
Settling more comfortably against her pillows she decided it was as good a time to
catch up as any. Last time she had seen him, she had been called away before he was recovered
enough to talk. Now, he wouldn't be going anywhere for a while, and neither would she. Though
she hoped the doctors would let her out soon. The stark white walls became quite boring after
a few minutes and she had seen them a bit longer than that already.
~~~~~~
Count Edward Fielding was a greying man in his early sixties. Despite his age, he was
still lean and well built, thanks to an balanced exercise program, a left over from his time
in the armies. His grey eyes were staring at the painting on the wall opposite from him. The
gilded frame made a stark contrast with the old fashioned dark wooden panels. The picture
displayed a simple landscape of a very English cottage. Rather meaningless.
He scowled. It had been quite some time, but he still had not received an answer from
that girl Dorothy. Of course, the letter had been a long shot, but the least she could have
done, was send some sort of reply, even if it was negative. The girl was rather arrogant, not
to mention rude. He thought she knew about the records, and maybe even what they contained,
but apparently, war-loving Dorothy was ignorant of her late grandfather's knowledge and actions.
And commander Simmons wasn't making any progress either. He would order the pressure on
those two Preventers to be increased. The Gundam pilots were essential to his plans.
Leaning back he pressed a button on his desk, that activated the vid-screen. A few more
commands later he was staring at the stern face of commander Simmons.
"Good day, Count Fielding," the man spoke in his usual curt voice.
"How is your progress with the two prisoners going?" The Count had never been a man of
formalities.
A look of annoyance flashed over the man's face. "They're still not talking. The man
remains silent, apart from his screaming of course," a malicious grin appeared momentarily,
"and the woman proves stronger than anticipated. It seems neither cares what happens to them.
They're not talking. Or they're speaking the truth." He looked doubtful at that last.
Count Fielding folded his hands and shot his subordinate a piercing glare. "Exactly who
are these Preventers? Knowing more about them, might give us a means of leverage over them."
"The woman's name is Sally Po, a lieutenant. The other is 'Wufei'. That is the only
thing we managed to get out of him. The woman won't tell us his full name either."
"Doesn't matter. It isn't a common name, so it can't be too hard to find. Continue your
interrogation of those two and report when you come up with something. I'll have their backgrounds
checked." He terminated the connection as soon as the commander had finished saluting.
Grumbling he folded his arms. Stubborn idiots. Why wouldn't they just talk? The more
they kept silent, the more fun commander Simmons would have with them. And that was not a good
thing. Count Fielding was familiar with the commander's methods of interrogation. It was better
not to survive that.
He shoved his chair back and rose to his feet. Brusquely he walked out of his office
and down the broad corridor in the direction of his Intelligence office. Ashing was the best
hacker in his team. If anyone would be able to find something on those two Preventers, it was
him.
The Count pushed the stark grey door open, not bothering to knock. He was first in
command. Even he walked into two people making they couldn't raise one word of protest. He
smirked slightly at the thought. "Ashing," he barked, to distract him from the thought.
A man in his mid-twenties appeared from behind a large computer console. His curly
hair hung in his face. His eyes shone dully behind his spectacles. His shirt was crumpled,
leading Fielding to believe the young man had once again fallen asleep in front of the computer
screens. The dark circles underneath the eyes only proved his point. A forgotten coffee mug
stood at the corner of the desk.
"Yes, sir?" Ashing spoke.
"I want information. See what you can find on a Preventer named Sally Po and one named
Wufei."
"Wufei who?" came the absentminded answer as nimble fingers already entered the command.
"Unknown."
"Okay."
Count Fielding smirked again. That was what he liked so much about the man. He never
complained if the info given was not complete. He just did as he was ordered, no questions asked.
Sometimes Fielding wondered whether Ashing actually knew who and what he was working for. Still,
he must, because he always came up with information relevant to their cause.
He turned to leave Ashing to his work. As he headed back for his own office, his mind
once again wandered to that Catalonia woman. Stubborn fool she was. Perhaps they should meet in
person. He could be as persuasive as commander Simmons, if the need arose.
Making up his mind he pressed the button of the intercom and ordered for captain Ross to
come to his office.
~~~~~~
Sally shifted her back against the wall of her prison, suppressing a shudder. She hadn't
talked. She had not said a word. Rubbing her arms she reminded herself she had been through worse.
This was nothing compared to the horrors the war had imprinted on her memory.
What was it with men anyway? Did they really think even just the threat of rape, would
make a woman tremble in her boots? It wasn't the first time. That commander had been smirking,
so sure of himself. Well, she hadn't budged. No matter how he had bullied and threatened her,
or hurt her later on.
Gingerly stretching her legs she leaned back, diverting her thoughts to more pressing
matters. Like how to get out. She had to find a way to get Wufei out of here. She doubted those
idiots would provide him the proper medical attention. Without that, the bullet wound would get
infected.
Rubbing her arms again, the cell was cold, she suddenly realized she was no longer wearing
her uniform jacket. That meant her homing signal wasn't working any longer. She just hoped HQ had
at least found her general location. She had no idea where she was. All she knew was that she
underground.
~~~~~~
Duo came barging in the common room the other three Gundam pilots had gathered. Judging by
his expression something was up.
"Intelligence found Sally's life signal."
"Where?" Heero answered. Finally. Now they could actually try and rescue them. Just the
four of them, of course. Trowa was right in that. They couldn't drag the Preventers along in this.
"One of the larger Colonies of the L2 cluster."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Quatre exclaimed. "A colony?"
Heero frowned. If they had gotten on a Colony they must have excess to a spaceport. That
didn't sound too good. "Is she still alive?"
"They don't know." Duo shifted nervously. "Apparently they lost the signal about twelve
hours ago. So either she isn't wearing it anymore, or..." He didn't finish.
Heero clenched his fists. "Come on," he grunted. "We have to get ready."
"Why would they be on one of the larger Colonies?" Quatre wondered.
"It's easier to hide in a crowd,"Duo muttered, already stalking back the way he came.
Heero followed closely, followed by Trowa and Quatre.
"If they're also on the Colonies, this organization is even larger than we anticipated.
We don't even know whether we're headed for the Headquarters," Trowa mused.
Heero shot him a glare. "If we are, would you back out?" He hoped the stoic pilot wouldn't
even think about. His skills would come very much in handy in this rescue operation. His eyes
wandered to Duo who was in font of him. The braided man's ability at stealth would be more than
just useful when infiltrating this base. He then eyed the blond man behind his right shoulder.
Quatre's face showed the same amount of concentration and determination as Heero felt. He suddenly
blinked.
"Quatre, you can't come."
"What?" the blond asked incredulously.
Even Duo had stopped to listen.
"Well, not like this," Heero continued so he wouldn't make Quatre angry. "Your face is too
well-known. Us three are just insignificant civilians. You are a familiar face in the business
world. If you want to come, you have to disguise yourself."
Quatre blinked owlishly for a moment, then gasped. "You're right, Heero. I'll take it up
with Une right away."
He hurried off in a different direction, while the rest of them headed straight for their
quarters.
Heero hoped it wouldn't take Quatre too long. With Sally's signal out for already twelve
hours, who knew what condition their two friends. He didn't want to think about the possibility
they already were too late to save them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN Well, that's it. Soon Wuffles and Sal will be out of there, I hope. We'll just see how things evolve, now won't we? Dorothy's part will be bigger soon. After all, the plot is tied to her family and past, obviously. Well, please review. I love reviews and I would very much like to thank everyone who has taken the trouble of reviewing this little story of mine. I know it's not nearly as good as many others on this website, but I like writing it and I don't really mind is not so exceptional. I just like it. Till next time.
Bye
Dannee
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Under Pressure
Chapter 18
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This isn't getting us anywhere," she murmured.
Heero frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You still blame yourself for what happened. That's foolish. None of us were capable of
knowing their wanting to attack me the moment you happened to be gone. No-one knew you were in
the palace, so we know they didn't wait for you to leave. It was just a coincidence. There was
nothing you could do."
"But I should have," he answered more heatedly than expected..
"You can't do everything, Heero."
"But I promised to protect you!"
"Why?"
He looked up in surprise. "Isn't it obvious? You are the leader of the Earth and the
Colonies. If you die, peace will fail."
Relena frowned. "It's not just that. You always protected me. Even when I was still an
insignificant schoolgirl. You blocked the shot the Aries took at me, and you stopped the building
from collapsing on top of me. You began protecting me long before I became anyone of importance.
Why?"
To her surprise he leaned forward and rested his face in his hands. "I don't know," he
answered muffled. Relena remained silent, trying to draw out more from the stoic pilot. "I know
I want to protect you, but I'm not sure why, aside from the obvious. Maybe it's because I still
think world peace is far from accomplished and that means I have to keep you safe."
"But you don't have to take sole responsibility for my safety. There are others beside
you working on that. Including myself. So would you please be normal? As normal as you can be,
of course."
He opened his mouth to retort, but froze, frowning. "What's that supposed to mean? As
normal as I can be?"
Relena felt like grinning. Now, there was a lucky break. It seemed like the opportunity
to make fun of Heero, something she had never done before, but had often seen Duo do, had
presented itself at the most convenient time. "Oh, you know," she said vaguely. "I shouldn't
elaborate on that. I'm sure it's a touchy subject to you," she added in a slightly hushed voice,
as if trusting him with a delicate secret.
A brown eyebrow rose over a Prussian blue eye. "You're acting really weird." Everything
about him told her he was very nervous and confused. The fact that she could see it, was already
a sure sign.
"I've been hit in the head, a short while back. So have you, I heard. Don't you know
walls are painfully hard?"
She could see his thoughts tumbling through his head, until they came at a sudden
standstill. She knew what he was thinking. Duo. He was the only one who had seen Heero banging
his head against the wall. And so he most have also told Relena about the fact that Heero
blamed himself for the injuries she sustained. It was about time he realized that, Relena thought.
The perfect soldier was surprisingly slow today.
"I do now," he dead panned.
She smirked, playing along. "But don't you think you were a little drastic in your
means to find out?"
"I wanted to know what was harder, the wall or my head."
An enormous smile broke out on Relena's face. My, he had changed. And for the good too.
He was not as uptight as he had been during the war. Even in the times he was allowed a little
respite, he had always been on guard, never showing his emotions. Now, despite the threat of
another war looming over them, he found time to relax, to show that he was indeed human, and
not the machine other people took him for.
Settling more comfortably against her pillows she decided it was as good a time to
catch up as any. Last time she had seen him, she had been called away before he was recovered
enough to talk. Now, he wouldn't be going anywhere for a while, and neither would she. Though
she hoped the doctors would let her out soon. The stark white walls became quite boring after
a few minutes and she had seen them a bit longer than that already.
~~~~~~
Count Edward Fielding was a greying man in his early sixties. Despite his age, he was
still lean and well built, thanks to an balanced exercise program, a left over from his time
in the armies. His grey eyes were staring at the painting on the wall opposite from him. The
gilded frame made a stark contrast with the old fashioned dark wooden panels. The picture
displayed a simple landscape of a very English cottage. Rather meaningless.
He scowled. It had been quite some time, but he still had not received an answer from
that girl Dorothy. Of course, the letter had been a long shot, but the least she could have
done, was send some sort of reply, even if it was negative. The girl was rather arrogant, not
to mention rude. He thought she knew about the records, and maybe even what they contained,
but apparently, war-loving Dorothy was ignorant of her late grandfather's knowledge and actions.
And commander Simmons wasn't making any progress either. He would order the pressure on
those two Preventers to be increased. The Gundam pilots were essential to his plans.
Leaning back he pressed a button on his desk, that activated the vid-screen. A few more
commands later he was staring at the stern face of commander Simmons.
"Good day, Count Fielding," the man spoke in his usual curt voice.
"How is your progress with the two prisoners going?" The Count had never been a man of
formalities.
A look of annoyance flashed over the man's face. "They're still not talking. The man
remains silent, apart from his screaming of course," a malicious grin appeared momentarily,
"and the woman proves stronger than anticipated. It seems neither cares what happens to them.
They're not talking. Or they're speaking the truth." He looked doubtful at that last.
Count Fielding folded his hands and shot his subordinate a piercing glare. "Exactly who
are these Preventers? Knowing more about them, might give us a means of leverage over them."
"The woman's name is Sally Po, a lieutenant. The other is 'Wufei'. That is the only
thing we managed to get out of him. The woman won't tell us his full name either."
"Doesn't matter. It isn't a common name, so it can't be too hard to find. Continue your
interrogation of those two and report when you come up with something. I'll have their backgrounds
checked." He terminated the connection as soon as the commander had finished saluting.
Grumbling he folded his arms. Stubborn idiots. Why wouldn't they just talk? The more
they kept silent, the more fun commander Simmons would have with them. And that was not a good
thing. Count Fielding was familiar with the commander's methods of interrogation. It was better
not to survive that.
He shoved his chair back and rose to his feet. Brusquely he walked out of his office
and down the broad corridor in the direction of his Intelligence office. Ashing was the best
hacker in his team. If anyone would be able to find something on those two Preventers, it was
him.
The Count pushed the stark grey door open, not bothering to knock. He was first in
command. Even he walked into two people making they couldn't raise one word of protest. He
smirked slightly at the thought. "Ashing," he barked, to distract him from the thought.
A man in his mid-twenties appeared from behind a large computer console. His curly
hair hung in his face. His eyes shone dully behind his spectacles. His shirt was crumpled,
leading Fielding to believe the young man had once again fallen asleep in front of the computer
screens. The dark circles underneath the eyes only proved his point. A forgotten coffee mug
stood at the corner of the desk.
"Yes, sir?" Ashing spoke.
"I want information. See what you can find on a Preventer named Sally Po and one named
Wufei."
"Wufei who?" came the absentminded answer as nimble fingers already entered the command.
"Unknown."
"Okay."
Count Fielding smirked again. That was what he liked so much about the man. He never
complained if the info given was not complete. He just did as he was ordered, no questions asked.
Sometimes Fielding wondered whether Ashing actually knew who and what he was working for. Still,
he must, because he always came up with information relevant to their cause.
He turned to leave Ashing to his work. As he headed back for his own office, his mind
once again wandered to that Catalonia woman. Stubborn fool she was. Perhaps they should meet in
person. He could be as persuasive as commander Simmons, if the need arose.
Making up his mind he pressed the button of the intercom and ordered for captain Ross to
come to his office.
~~~~~~
Sally shifted her back against the wall of her prison, suppressing a shudder. She hadn't
talked. She had not said a word. Rubbing her arms she reminded herself she had been through worse.
This was nothing compared to the horrors the war had imprinted on her memory.
What was it with men anyway? Did they really think even just the threat of rape, would
make a woman tremble in her boots? It wasn't the first time. That commander had been smirking,
so sure of himself. Well, she hadn't budged. No matter how he had bullied and threatened her,
or hurt her later on.
Gingerly stretching her legs she leaned back, diverting her thoughts to more pressing
matters. Like how to get out. She had to find a way to get Wufei out of here. She doubted those
idiots would provide him the proper medical attention. Without that, the bullet wound would get
infected.
Rubbing her arms again, the cell was cold, she suddenly realized she was no longer wearing
her uniform jacket. That meant her homing signal wasn't working any longer. She just hoped HQ had
at least found her general location. She had no idea where she was. All she knew was that she
underground.
~~~~~~
Duo came barging in the common room the other three Gundam pilots had gathered. Judging by
his expression something was up.
"Intelligence found Sally's life signal."
"Where?" Heero answered. Finally. Now they could actually try and rescue them. Just the
four of them, of course. Trowa was right in that. They couldn't drag the Preventers along in this.
"One of the larger Colonies of the L2 cluster."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Quatre exclaimed. "A colony?"
Heero frowned. If they had gotten on a Colony they must have excess to a spaceport. That
didn't sound too good. "Is she still alive?"
"They don't know." Duo shifted nervously. "Apparently they lost the signal about twelve
hours ago. So either she isn't wearing it anymore, or..." He didn't finish.
Heero clenched his fists. "Come on," he grunted. "We have to get ready."
"Why would they be on one of the larger Colonies?" Quatre wondered.
"It's easier to hide in a crowd,"Duo muttered, already stalking back the way he came.
Heero followed closely, followed by Trowa and Quatre.
"If they're also on the Colonies, this organization is even larger than we anticipated.
We don't even know whether we're headed for the Headquarters," Trowa mused.
Heero shot him a glare. "If we are, would you back out?" He hoped the stoic pilot wouldn't
even think about. His skills would come very much in handy in this rescue operation. His eyes
wandered to Duo who was in font of him. The braided man's ability at stealth would be more than
just useful when infiltrating this base. He then eyed the blond man behind his right shoulder.
Quatre's face showed the same amount of concentration and determination as Heero felt. He suddenly
blinked.
"Quatre, you can't come."
"What?" the blond asked incredulously.
Even Duo had stopped to listen.
"Well, not like this," Heero continued so he wouldn't make Quatre angry. "Your face is too
well-known. Us three are just insignificant civilians. You are a familiar face in the business
world. If you want to come, you have to disguise yourself."
Quatre blinked owlishly for a moment, then gasped. "You're right, Heero. I'll take it up
with Une right away."
He hurried off in a different direction, while the rest of them headed straight for their
quarters.
Heero hoped it wouldn't take Quatre too long. With Sally's signal out for already twelve
hours, who knew what condition their two friends. He didn't want to think about the possibility
they already were too late to save them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN Well, that's it. Soon Wuffles and Sal will be out of there, I hope. We'll just see how things evolve, now won't we? Dorothy's part will be bigger soon. After all, the plot is tied to her family and past, obviously. Well, please review. I love reviews and I would very much like to thank everyone who has taken the trouble of reviewing this little story of mine. I know it's not nearly as good as many others on this website, but I like writing it and I don't really mind is not so exceptional. I just like it. Till next time.
Bye
Dannee